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learning a language

It’s safe to say that 2018 has inspired a lot of us in many ways. To do something new, or to explore something quite abstract or to do something out of the blue. I have so many goals at the moment but one of them is to learn French.

I would like to become more fluent in this language by summer time (or August 2018 😆) and so I’ve set myself a daily challenge to practice it as frequently as I can.

Random Fact: I studied French during secondary school for 2 years.

Learning a language is a whole lot of fun but it can be tricky at times. That goes for any task in life. It’s a combination of staying motivated and finding the best way to express your energy into a particular interest. I’ve been using resources online or books to practice my French. Seen as it’s a hobby, the learning process is quite stimulating especially as I’m rehashing on previous knowledge so I’m basically picking up from where I left…

How do I learn French?
I started to make an effort to learn it properly in mid-2017. I normally use apps such as Duolingo or Babbel to understand the basics. Phrases like ‘Hello’ (Bonjour or Salut), ‘How are you?’ (ça va) became an obvious starting point and from there I’ve developed it more. I used Babbel because it integrates the conversation element into the learning activity. Duolingo is a good one too because it has a ‘quizzy’ type of feel to it and is quite relaxed; it’s also free to use. For Babbel however, there is a small charge / subscription fee to access most of their content however it does come with a large selection of resources which tracks your progress and in similar to Duolingo in that respect.

At the moment, my best method of learning French is by reading books or handouts. I am currently reading ‘French in three months’ (see the slideshow below). It was quite cheap and the book is well-structured and very easy to understand, it also comes with a CD (yay).

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In addition to books and apps, I started a French Short Course at UAL – University of the Arts London. It was the beginners Part 1 course. In a small classroom with a group of other beginners, we learnt the basics. I had never really understood the importance of conjugating the verbs and the rules on the gender of nouns. To put it simply, there are a lot of rules.

The great thing about the course was that it takes influence from French culture and art so I am learning more than just a language.

As of yet, I haven’t mastered French yet but I’ve just started the Part 2 version of the course. I hope it will guide me more with the conversational side of French and to give me the confidence to understand and speak it more fluently.

I’ll probably track my French progress in a couple of months so do follow me on here if you want to know the end result and do wish me luck!!!

Now I will leave you with this throwback photo of my trip to Paris. Taken last summer on a boat trip as I was passed the Eiffel Tower.